Turkey Hunting News

Spring turkey hunters reported harvesting 15,687 birds during the 2011 season. The statewide harvest was 3% higher than last year's total of 15,190 birds. Counties east of the Blue Ridge Mountains increased 3% with a harvest of 10,441 birds compared to 10,130 birds last year. The harvest in counties west of the Blue Ridge (5,265) was 4% higher than last year's take (5,054). Most (85%) of the birds taken were adult gobblers. Forty-six bearded females were harvested. Overall, the spring harvest suggests a stable or slightly increasing turkey population.

The application period for this fall's deer, elk, pronghorn, fall black bear and fall turkey controlled hunts started Sunday, May 1 and runs through June 5.

Fish and Game may ask the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, during the May 19 meeting, to reduce the number of available controlled hunt deer tags in some areas that have suffered higher than normal over-winter losses.

Fish and Game biologists plan to recommend that the commission reduce the number of controlled hunt deer tags available in antlerless and either-sex controlled deer hunts in:

Can you think of a better way to spend a weekend than hunting with a kid? Join the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division for a weekend of family fun at the new "Hunt and Learn" program at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center (Mansfield, GA) on May 13-15, 2011. This event is part of a series of Advanced Hunter and Aquatic Education weekend programs offered by the Division focusing on hunting and fishing skills and conservation knowledge.

When the 2011-12 Florida hunting season opens, there will be a new public hunting area in Calhoun County with a focus on families and youth, thanks to the efforts of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and its partnership with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The Juniper Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is on the small side - just 900 acres - but it will be open to five family hunts for deer and wild hogs and one spring turkey youth hunt. A family hunt is open to two young people ages 8-15 and an adult with a quota permit.

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) reminds hunters that the 2011 Connecticut spring wild turkey hunting season runs through May 28.

This year will mark the 31st consecutive year that sportsmen have hunted turkeys in Connecticut. The statewide turkey population is estimated at approximately 35,000 birds. Healthy and numerous wild turkey populations exist throughout the majority of Connecticut’s woodlands. Last spring, 7,389 hunters took 1,245 bearded turkeys.

Hunters have through May 18 to apply for special hunting permits for fall deer, elk, mountain goat, moose, bighorn sheep, and turkey seasons in Washington state.

Permit winners will be selected by random drawing conducted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) in late June. The special permits qualify hunters to hunt at times and places beyond those authorized by a general hunting license.

Hunting Cartoons

I've spent countless hours either on my hands and knees or bent over, messing up my back, looking for blood. One such instance I remember most was a hog hunt a few years ago in Mississippi. I had never shot a hog so when I poked a hole in this guy; I was determined to find him. Wearing snake leggings, I crawled on my hands and knees through the briars and the brambles and bushes where a rabbit wouldn't go. I found a spot of blood here and there but never the pig. And lucky for me, I didn't find...